2017 Football/Poppy Scandal Averted

There won't be any shocking headlines about the footballing authorities demanding Our Boys stop wearing poppies on their football shirts this year, as the governing trough-eaters at FIFA have lifted the long-running ban on displaying anything other than money-paying sponsors on team shirts.

So the customary November tabloid outrage about England or Scotland or Wales being told their players are not allowed to wear poppy badges -- but doing it anyway and incurring a fine -- won't happen this year.

FIFA says the amended agreement covering the outlawing of "political statements" such as the wearing of a poppy asks teams to seek approval from their opponents and competition organisers before going ahead with the wearing of a poppy armband, which shouldn't be too hard to get as it's only a little flower designed to show that we remember the deaths of millions of people.

2017 is a particularly good year for this change to be made, as the international friendlies in November's remembrance window may include one between England and Germany, in which the non-wearing of a poppy by England or the banning of such an act by FIFA may have been a little incendiary. [BBC]